I pose a direct challenge to J Street and its Executive Director, Jeremy Ben-Ami: Do you or do not accept the argument, being made by many of Israel's enemies, that there is a direct relationship between Israel's actions on the West Bank and American casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan? In his article entitled "Alan Dershowitz is Wrong" Ben-Ami studiously avoids answering that question, which was the main point of my original article, J Street Can No Longer Claim to Be Pro-Israel. This is typical of J Street, which claims on the one hand to be pro-Israel, while on the other hand, appealing to many of the worst anti-Israel extremists. That is why J Street refuses to make tough choices that might alienate some of their extremist base. Instead they are satisfied to distort my record, quite deliberately and knowingly. Ben-Ami suggest that I oppose to the two-state solution, favor the continuation of settlements and am against efforts to promote peace. He knows that this is entirely false, because we have debated these issues and our debate is easily available on YouTube for all to see. In that debate, I make it as clear as possible that I agree with J Street on the settlements on the two-state solution and on the need to bring about a peaceful resolution. Where we disagree is on Israel's security, about which Ben-Ami is always vague.
I do not believe that there is any relationship between Israel's actions on the West Bank, misguided as they may be, and American security in general or American casualties in particular. I have proved my point through various examples, all of which Ben-Ami ignores.
Ben-Ami also knows that I am opposed to Richard Goldstone being barred from attending his own grandson's bar mitzvah, if that is indeed what happened. I do believe that the Goldstone report is scandalously wrong, evilly motivated and dangerous to the peace process. J Street can't even put out an unambiguous statement regarding the Goldstone report, because it is afraid of alienating its extremist base. It satisfies itself with defending the man while gently criticizing the report.
Finally, Ben-Ami has the chutzpah to actually blame me for those on college campuses who disdain Israel. It is typical of J Street to blame Israel and its supporters for everything, without putting any of the responsibility on those who are truly to blame -- Islamic extremists who are the ones killing American troops; the Palestinian leadership, who are the ones refusing to engage in direct negotiations with Israel; anti-Israel campus bigots, who are the ones calling for divestment and boycotts; and J Street leaders, who are the ones endangering Israel's security under the false banner of being pro-Israel.